NHL Draft Notebook: Blackhawks eyeing Misa at No. 3
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The 2025 NHL Draft is just under two weeks away with the main event on June 27-28 from Los Angeles. Follow along on TSN.ca with the latest news, rumours and speculation from around the NHL.
Blackhawks eyeing Misa at No. 3
The Chicago Blackhawks have the third overall pick in the upcoming draft and per Scott Powers of The Athletic, they will take Saginaw Spirit forward Michael Misa if he's available at No. 3.
Misa took home the CHL Top Scorer Award on Friday after putting up 62 goals and 134 points in 65 games in 2024-25. Granted exceptional status to enter the Ontario Hockey League as a 15-year-old in 2022, Misa helped Saginaw win the Memorial Cup in 2024 and cleaned up at the OHL awards this year, earning the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHL’s Most Outstanding Player, the Eddie Powers Trophy as the top point-getter and the Bobby Smith Trophy as the scholastic player of the year
He is the seventh player in the last 20 years to win the award in their first year of eligibility for the NHL Draft with only Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane, and Connor Bedard scoring more than Misa in their draft seasons.
Powers says if Misa is gone by No. 3, he believes the Blackhawks will choose one of three forwards, Moncton's Caleb Desnoyers, Djurgardens' Anton Frondell or Brampton's Porter Martone in that spot.
This will be the third straight year the Blackhawks will pick in the top three after selecting forward Connor Bedard first overall in 2023 and defenceman Artyom Levshunov at No. 2 last year.
Calgary look to retain first-rounders?
The Calgary Flames narrowly missed the playoffs in 2024-25 but according to Cam Robinson of EliteProspects, the team is looking to continue bolstering their prospect pipeline with their first-round picks instead of trading them for current help.
The Flames have the 18th overall pick in the draft acquired from the New Jersey Devils in the Jacob Markstrom trade last year as well as the Panthers' first-round pick that will be the 31st or 32nd selection following the results of the Stanley Cup Final.
Calgary also had two first-round selections in 2024, taking Saginaw Spirit defenceman Zayne Parekh ninth overall and winger Matvei Gridin 28th overall.
Parekh, 19, had 33 goals and 107 points in 61 games with the OHL's Saginaw Spirit in 2024-25. He made his NHL debut in Calgary's final game of the regular season on April 17 against the Los Angeles Kings, where he scored his first professional goal.
Gridin had 36 goals and 79 points in 56 games with the QMJHL's Shawinigan Cataractes last season.